Feeling increasingly alien to the noisy, rushing world of
consumer society, and one day we got to the point of reevaluating our lives. We
realized that the way out from the treadwheel is to find a slower life closer
to nature. When the decision was made it was rapidly followed by action: after
living about a decade in the United Kingdom we moved back to our homeland
(Hungary), to a quiet farm on the outskirts of a small village in the
south-west part of the Country. Among our goals is to reach the highest level
of self-sufficiency in every aspect of life, so achieving the most independent
existence possible. One of the main pillars of this huge project is the
provision of one's own food, which was accompanied by the creation of a small
livestock. An integral part of a working farm (and our life) is the
DOG. When we moved to our new home, there was no question that the
four-legged member of our family (Charlie, the labrador) who had already been
eight years old then, would soon have companions. First the komondor: Szikra,
who is of course the watchful guard of our gate and the farm's ever-increasing
livestock, then two years later, Virgonc, the pumi, our ruminant co-ordinator. Then the others in line...